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Maybe variety is key. It could be that people with extra money to spend, are really particular about what they order, and don't really look too deeply into the

by petra 10y ago

Maybe variety is key. It could be that people with extra money to spend, are really particular about what they order, and don't really look too deeply into their bills(for example they believe it when instacart says they take 15-20% margins). BTW, for the grocery market., a $3,4B valuation isn't that large .

criddell 10y ago
It's pretty big. Whole Foods' market cap is under $10B. Plus I don't think Instacart is really in the grocery business. They are in the delivery business and grocery stores are their warehouses. I really have a hard time seeing $3+ billion of value there. Maybe they are thinking about getting into the grocery business though.
- burntrelish1273 10y ago
  WF is a terrible example because organic, vegan, sustainable are now basically mainstream. I can go to almost any medium town in Texas and find a natural food store to make hummus from scratch. WF has to up the ante by doing more local, exclusive, seasonable, sustainable and experimental/incubator products to differentiate from traditional mainstream grocers and also competitors like Trader Joe's. http://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-biggest-problem-2015-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-biggest-problem-2... But the bigger issue with Instacart / Google Shopping Express is they're effectively value-add middlemen whom can be cut-out, undercut, gamed and so on. WalMart, Safeway/Vons, Amazon, Costco have the muscle ( distribution and capital) to squash them like Mr. Wonderful's proverbial cockroaches.
  - sjg007 10y ago
    Well instacart could cut out the supermarket.
randycupertino 10y ago
There was a post on here recently that showed instacarts margins were double and triple what they claim. The delivery guy accidentally gave the dude the real receipt and he compared Instacarts prices to the stores actual prices, they were insanely higher. edit: update- couldn't find the specific post I was thinking of from hackernews but here's someone downthread who posted similarly outrageous findings: https://np.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/5xj47l/ever_what_instacart_is_really_charging_you_in/ https://np.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/5xj47l/ever_what_ins...

by petra 10y ago

criddell 10y ago

It's pretty big. Whole Foods' market cap is under $10B. Plus I don't think Instacart is really in the grocery business. They are in the delivery business and grocery stores are their warehouses. I really have a hard time seeing $3+ billion of value there. Maybe they are thinking about getting into the grocery business though.

burntrelish1273 10y ago
WF is a terrible example because organic, vegan, sustainable are now basically mainstream. I can go to almost any medium town in Texas and find a natural food store to make hummus from scratch. WF has to up the ante by doing more local, exclusive, seasonable, sustainable and experimental/incubator products to differentiate from traditional mainstream grocers and also competitors like Trader Joe's. http://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-biggest-problem-2015-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-biggest-problem-2... But the bigger issue with Instacart / Google Shopping Express is they're effectively value-add middlemen whom can be cut-out, undercut, gamed and so on. WalMart, Safeway/Vons, Amazon, Costco have the muscle ( distribution and capital) to squash them like Mr. Wonderful's proverbial cockroaches.
- sjg007 10y ago
  Well instacart could cut out the supermarket.

randycupertino 10y ago

There was a post on here recently that showed instacarts margins were double and triple what they claim. The delivery guy accidentally gave the dude the real receipt and he compared Instacarts prices to the stores actual prices, they were insanely higher. edit: update- couldn't find the specific post I was thinking of from hackernews but here's someone downthread who posted similarly outrageous findings: https://np.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/5xj47l/ever_what_instacart_is_really_charging_you_in/ https://np.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/5xj47l/ever_what_ins...